


Our Hoard: Remix

by HashtagLEH



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU of AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bucky Barnes Recovering, D/s undertones, Dragon Bucky Barnes, Dragon Steve Rogers, Dragon Tony Stark, Feral Behavior, Fluff, M/M, No Smut, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Bucky Barnes, Possessive Steve Rogers, Possessive Tony Stark, Scenting, Shapeshifting, and...more, because of dragon instincts, everything is pretty much the same except Steve and Tony are secretly dragons, feral bucky, somehow that leads to smooching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 04:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18328280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/HashtagLEH
Summary: There was a sharp inhale in front of him, and his eyes darted up to meet the Captain’s. The blond’s normally blue eyes swirled golden with alertness and curiosity and just a bit of warning – something he was sure was reflected in his own. He felt the vibrations of a low growl coming from the Captain – not threatening, exactly, but searching and evaluating. It was at a register too low for the other humans in the quinjet to notice.An AU where Tony and Steve are secretly dragons.*this is a remix of the one that becomes Stuckony, where in this version they remain Stony. First four chapters are the same as the other version*





	1. Golden Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Our Hoard](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815925) by [HashtagLEH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/HashtagLEH). 



> I got a couple of negative comments on the Stuckony version of this fic, and my anxiety told me to just delete all of those chapters, pretend they never happened, and abandon this idea entirely. To try and counteract that, I decided to make a version that remained Stony even after Bucky had shown up. This is the result.
> 
> Also, if you ever don't like a story that you're reading, just leave it! You do not have to continue reading, you are not forced to. And why on Earth would you leave a comment that says that you hate how turned out??? I write these stories for me because I enjoy it. so I don't appreciate the implication that I'm an idiot because I wrote it in a way that you did not want to see it end. Grow up, except the disappointment, and quietly leave, if you so desire.
> 
> And now that that's over with, enjoy this Stony version. :)

When Tony stepped aboard the quinjet after the showdown with Loki, the first thing he did was of course remove his helmet. Immediately the usual air filtration through his suit disappeared and he caught scent of…

Surprised and caught off guard, he snorted once and stopped breathing, feeling his blood begin to heat beneath his skin.

There was a sharp inhale in front of him, and his eyes darted up to meet the Captain’s. The blond’s normally blue eyes swirled golden with alertness and curiosity and just a bit of warning – something he was sure was reflected in his own. He felt the vibrations of a low growl coming from the Captain – not threatening, exactly, but searching and evaluating. It was at a register too low for the other humans in the quinjet to notice…but there was an alien on board as well, and his green eyes watched them with amusement.

Tony distantly noted this, keeping eye contact with the Captain in challenge and not backing down one iota. A thin, almost nonexistent trail of steam blew out his nostrils as he began to breathe again now that he’d identified what had alerted him. His own chest rumbled with vibrations, and he curled his lip slightly in warning. As though the weather was helping him out, thunder boomed outside and lightning flashed in warning, lighting up the entire flying vehicle.

Finally, it was the Captain who backed down, and as soon as his eyes began to turn blue again, Tony followed, matching him breath for breath. They kept eye contact for long moments before the Captain looked at Loki and raised a single eyebrow at the fear and trepidation he saw there.

“What’s the matter?” he said, and his voice was normal, no hint that anything had just occurred between him and Tony. “Afraid of a little lightning?”

***

After the battle, and after shawarma, Tony invited all of them to come live with him. He couldn’t help it – instincts told him that these people were  _his_ , and he needed to keep them close. Rogers…well, he was like him, so he didn’t feel that tug so much, but it would’ve been awfully strange to invite everyone to live with him  _except_ American Anachronism. And he supposed that the guy wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. They’d actually worked really well in the battle, all previous animosity shoved aside in favor of defending their city and their world. So it really shouldn’t be  _too_ much of a hardship to invite the Adonis along with the rest of them.

And when he asked all of them along, Rogers looked at him with a raised eyebrow, as though asking,  _me too?_ – and Tony allowed his eyes to briefly flash with gold before going back to a neutral, more human expression. This was all the confirmation the man needed, and he smiled warmly, a little rumble echoing in his chest in appreciation.

It was just a  _bit_ too loud, though, because Bruce glanced over at them as though searching for the source of the noise, looking a bit confused, and the blond’s rumbling immediately cut off when he noticed. Tony smirked a bit to himself at that. The rest of the Avengers would find out about the dragons in their midst eventually. It would be fun to keep it a secret as long as he could, though.


	2. Me Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People who rub each other the wrong way make the best sparks.

The two of them never expected how their feelings would turn everything around.

Tony supposed he should have expected it, later on as he thought about what had brought the two of them to that point. In the beginning there had been tension, and he wasn’t sure he could blame it completely on recognizing each other as dragons. They had fallen into each other before they’d known each other for an entire month.

“You are infuriating,” Steve breathed against his lips, before he enveloped said lips with his own. Tony fought for dominance against Steve’s tongue, neither of them wavering in the slightest and causing tendrils of smoke to steam out their noses at the effort.

“And you are completely insufferable,” Tony shot back, biting down sharply on Steve’s bottom lip and scratching his nails down Steve’s back. “But you know what they say…people who rub each other the wrong way make the best sparks.”

Steve let out a growl that vibrated through the both of them, and moved his hands from Tony’s back to his ass, squeezing and kneading before he grabbed him up to sling his legs around his waist. Tony was only too happy to oblige, lunging forward and running his fingers through Steve’s hair, tugging it to jerk his head back so he could bite a trail down his neck.

Steve let out a groan when Tony bit a particularly sensitive spot, his hands spasming from where they grasped at Tony’s ass. Tony felt Steve’s muscles relax slightly under him and licked over the bite in reward for his submission. A pleased rumble went through his chest as his touch gentled slightly, nails no longer digging but scratching.

Steve, even his lust however, recognized Tony’s actions for what they were, and before Tony registered what was happening, Steve had spun them around so that he could slam Tony against the wall. He practically tore Tony’s shirt off, but Tony really couldn’t bring himself to care when Steve’s mouth descended first in the hollow of his throat, before he was biting and sucking his way down Tony’s torso. Tony hadn’t even realized that in his distraction Steve had gotten his pants open until he was descending on the body part that needed the most attention at the moment, and all Tony could do was gasp and moan as Steve went to work on him. Steve’s eyes were challenging and completely golden as he stared up at Tony, but for the moment Tony didn’t even mind. Steve knew exactly what he was doing, but Tony didn’t even have the brain to wonder where Steve had learned this until much later.

Several minutes later, they had finally made it into the bedroom, where their combined stamina had kept them up and going for several hours. Later on, it didn’t really matter who was dominating and who was submitting – they both enjoyed them in equal measure. And finally, after Tony had lost count of how many times they had each come, they settled down with sweat-slick bodies to get their breath back.

“We should’ve done this  _weeks_ ago,” Tony finally said with a grin, glancing over at Steve’s pleased expression. His hair was plastered to his forehead by his sweat, but there was a little tuft of it on top of his head that had been spiked up by Tony’s hand grabbing it to yank his head back.

Steve huffed. “Maybe if I’d thought you were  _interested_ …”

“And what impression did I give that I wasn’t?” Tony said amusedly, licking his top lip and tasting the salty sweat that clung there.

“Maybe the way you made clear that everything outside of my floor was part of  _your_ hoard?” Steve said dryly.

Tony smirked amusedly. “It  _is_  my Tower,” he said, which was as close to admission as Steve was ever going to get. Steve didn’t mind. At least it no longer said “Stark” on the outside of the Tower, like that wasn’t the biggest dick-measuring contest he had ever seen. He was certain that it was also no coincidence that the Tower itself was very phallic in its design.

After that occurrence, Steve and Tony had naturally fallen into each other more often, which had led to dating, which had led to teasing from the rest of the team, but they didn’t really care about that part.

As time went on, they grew closer as a team and became something of a family as they fought against villains too much for the police to handle.

And yet somehow, it still came as a surprise the first time Clint had referred to the two of them as “Mom” and “Dad”.

It had been completely innocuous and out of the blue. Sure, he had called the two of them together “Mom and Dad” before, but that had just been in jest, like when they were arguing and he made some comment about no one being happy when the parents were unhappy.

But then, after a battle against a house-sized rattlesnake, Clint called to them from his spot on top of one of the buildings. Steve and Tony weren’t even  _near_ each other, let alone arguing, so the names were rather out of the blue.

“Mom, Dad,” he said into the comms as he climbed down to reach the rest of them. “I vote we skip debrief and go for tacos. Let SHIELD clean this up. Aye?”

“AYE!” Thor boomed, dropping from the sky with hammer in hand. “I know not what these ‘tacos’ are, but Friend Clint has wise judgement in appetizing sustenance!”

“Yesterday he put apple juice on his fruity pebbles because we ran out of milk,” Natasha said flatly, retrieving one of her blades from where it had landed on the ground in the fight.

“Perfection is never perfect,” Thor said wisely, undeterred by her argument. “For it is in the flaws that true beauty is found.”

“Did Thor just call Clint beautiful?” Bruce wondered as he stumbled up to them, clutching at his pants.

“Did Clint just call us ‘Mom and Dad’ unironically?” Tony countered as his suit touched down to the ground with the rest of them. He flipped his faceplate up to look at them without the barrier of information that Jarvis always had running across the screens.

“Uh – yeah?” Clint said like it should have been obvious, giving Tony a weird look. “You guys have been Mom and Dad for  _months_.”

“Since when?” Tony demanded, before he shook his head. “More importantly, who is Mom and who is Dad?”

“Steve’s ‘Mom’,” Natasha said blandly, like she was bored of this conversation already and just wished they were smart enough to keep up.

“What?” Steve said from where he had been resting on a broken bit of rubble since the beginning of the conversation. “Why am  _I_ the mom?”

“Because you have a radar for when anyone else is upset,” Clint explained. “We start being sad or negative, seconds later you’re leaning in the doorway with that stupid face going, ‘Hey. Wanna talk about it?’  _Obviously_ you’re the mom.”

“And what makes me the dad in this scenario?” Tony questioned with a raised eyebrow, hands on his hips.

“You’re the breadwinner,” Bruce said matter-of-factly. “And you’re the one who’s all, ‘go get ‘em, champ! You can do this!’ and then if we don’t you’re all tough love and ‘rub some dirt in it’ kind of attitude.”

“ _Obviously_ you’re the dad,” Clint echoed his previous sentiment.

Tony shook his head in bafflement that his team could even come up with these ideas. He glanced at Steve to see what he thought of this, but Steve wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at the ground, lips pursed and brow furrowed in a familiar expression of deep thought.

“So…tacos?” Clint prompted.

“I say let’s go for it,” Tony sighed, a bit surprised when Steve didn’t object.

Later, after Tony and Steve started kissing but before clothes were even shed, Steve blurted, “They’re my hoard, too.”

Tony stopped the ministrations with his tongue behind Steve’s ear, pulling back to look at Steve, not sure he’d heard right.

“What?” he said confusedly, feeling the gold fade from his eyes as his libido was checked.

“The team,” Steve explained, looking a touch too calm not only for his position but also for the words coming out of his mouth. “I count them as part of my hoard, too.”

“Me too,” Tony agreed, and then the realization struck. He didn’t feel threatened by the other dragon claiming a part of his hoard for his own.

“I suppose that means it’s  _our_ hoard,” Steve voiced what Tony was thinking. He watched Tony carefully, like he was waiting for disagreement.

But Tony’s mood was the furthest from disagreeable. He beamed at Steve, feeling his eyes warm to golden once again.

“Are you  _proposing_  to me, Captain?” he said lightly.

At the happiness he could feel and see in the brunette, Steve relaxed a bit before he shook his head. “Not yet,” he denied. “But…I wouldn’t mind working in that direction.  Would that be okay with you?”

Tony nodded agreeably. “Sounds great to me,” he said honestly with a quirked smile, then leaned in again to descend once more on Steve.

After all, they already shared a hoard, and had done so without problem and without even realizing it. The rest of the team realized it too, even if they thought it was something else. He knew already where this was going.


	3. Protective Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't touch Tony's stuff.

Tony wasn’t there when it happened.

No, Tony was at a work conference on the other side of the country when the rest of the Avengers were at a gala. Tony hadn’t wanted to go, but Pepper had insisted that he needed to show his face on the West Coast, because it had been more than six months since he had visited that SI location and they needed a boost of morale. Not to mention reassurance that he wasn’t quitting anything in the least, because they were all worriers about that sort of thing.

So maybe he liked New York more than he did Malibu. And maybe it had something to do with a certain Captain. But he was still the owner of Stark Industries, and they really shouldn’t just assume he’d up and retire. He was only forty years old, for fuck’s sake. He had no intention of retiring for at  _least_  another twenty more years.

But, he had agreed to go to the meeting to appease Pepper more than anyone else. He was tempted to ask Steve to come with him for the company – company of a much different sort than Pepper’s – but he knew that Steve needed to be with the rest of the Avengers in case of emergency.

He kicked himself for it later however, when he received word that all of the Avengers had been kidnapped right out of the gala, including Steve. Apparently they had all been heavily drugged before being carted away in a large van.

Tony didn’t even know what sort of drug could  _possibly_ be strong enough to knock Steve down – besides the super soldier serum running through his veins, he also had dragon blood on his side. But he had no time to worry about that as he hopped on his private jet back to New York as soon as he found out what had happened to his teammates.

It made national and probably even  _inter_ national news before the day was out, so he was certain that the people who would have been at the meeting understood the sudden cancellation. If not, well fuck them anyway.

Someone had stolen from  _his_ hoard.

Someone was going to  _pay_.

***

When Tony discovered where his teammates were being held, he didn’t bother with the Iron Man suit. He didn’t intend to let anyone in the facility make it out alive – there was no need to hide his nature. It was a large warehouse-like building in Maine, in the middle of nowhere and with no witnesses around to see. This entire  _base_  was being leveled before the day was out.

He came descending on the base with scaly wings. Immediately the guards outside were shooting at him, but even as he landed on his feet and his body rippled back to that of a man, fire shot from his mouth, incinerating them all instantly and reducing the bullets to melted lead and copper.

He yanked the front door off its hinges, tossing it behind him. He stalked through the halls, blasting anyone he came across with a breath of flame. He couldn’t bring himself to feel any remorse for it – all of them had participated in stealing from  _his_ hoard; there could be no mercy here.

He followed the scent of blood, knowing that it would be his teammates, and before long he came to a thick metal door that was deadbolted shut. He smacked it with his hand, feeling it vibrate at the force but only denting slightly.

It took several more hits, but finally the door burst open, the deadbolt bent so badly that it couldn’t hold the door closed any longer.

And on the other side of the door, his teammates were in individual glass domes. They all had a hazy green glow about them that Tony recognized immediately as magic.

Fiery eyes swept across the room, taking in the people that were clearly scientists, who were currently staring at him with eyes widened in fear. He made a gesture, and they all immediately scurried away from him, moving to the other side of the room. Tony knew not to underestimate scientists, and that was the only reason they had been kept alive this long. They might have information that he needed before he could incinerate them, too.

“Tony!” Tony heard Steve’s voice call, tinny through the speaker on the outside of the dome he was in.  He looked over to see that Steve looked delighted to see him, but not in the least surprised. The dragon inside of him purred happily at the confidence his mate had in him.

“’Bout time you got here, Stark,” Clint drawled, sounding unconcerned but sharp eyes watching him. Clint recognized a difference in him – he could see the primal nature that was so very close to the surface. “Why’d you take off the suit, though?”

Tony didn’t bother responding as he drew nearer to the glass cages. Looking at all of them, they were all tired, looking drained. He figured it must be whatever magic was covering the domes.

“It suppresses anything outside of normal human DNA,” Steve reported, instinctively knowing what Tony was thinking. Tony’s eyes travelled across Steve’s form, taking in his pale features that looked just a bit gaunt, cheeks pink like he was developing a fever. He looked across at Bruce, who was definitely not big and green, because surely the Hulk would have been able to break out of these domes, and then at Thor, who looked sicker than the rest of them. He supposed that made sense – alien DNA and all that. He didn’t have the benefit that Steve and Bruce did of having  _some_ human DNA inside them. Natasha and Clint looked fine, merely irritated at the inconvenience of being trapped with no lock to pick to get them out. All of the controls were on the outside of the glass.

“Who is stabilizing this magic?” Tony demanded, his voice coming out in a rough growl as his dragon side pushed closer to the surface.

“That one,” Natasha said, pointing to the group of the scientists. Tony followed her gaze to a wide-eyed woman in her late twenties. Unlike the rest of them, she was not wearing the lab coat of a scientist.

“I’ll take it off!” she squeaked immediately, before Tony even had to move over there and begin threatening. “Please don’t kill me!”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Tony snarled. “You took what was  _mine_.”

“If I die, the magic stays!” she said immediately. “I’m the only one who can take it off!”

“Now, why don’t I believe you?” Tony mused. “Oh, maybe it’s because that’s not true for  _anyone_ else. Why should it hold true for  _you_?”

“Tony, they threatened her sister,” Steve said behind him, which was the only thing that stopped Tony from killing her right then and there. “She’s a prisoner as much as we are.”

“Take it off  _now_ , and you live,” Tony told her flatly, eyes steely and unforgiving. She immediately did as bidden, hands going up and dismantling the green film around each of the five glass domes.

Immediately Tony went to the main controls, pressing each of the buttons to lift the domes and release the prisoners inside.

Steve was looking better as soon as he was released, the serum working its magic to heal him. Tony noticed this only distantly though, lunging over to shove his lips roughly into Steve’s. Steve was immediately grabbing him, pulling him closer like he would never let go, nipping and biting Tony’s lips harshly in return. Both were growling deep in their chests, the register only faintly recognized by the rest of them.

“Please don’t have sex in a Hydra facility,” Natasha said idly, pulling their minds back to the present. After a couple more bites, Tony tore his lips from Steve’s to let his gaze roam over the rest of them. Steve was his mate and his hoard, but the others were part of his hoard too, and he had to see that  _they_  were all safe, too.

“Whoa,” Clint was the one to say what the rest of them were all thinking when they saw their two leaders looking at them. “Don’t you guys usually have blue eyes? Why are both your eyes  _golden_?”


	4. Explaining It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations are had.

“So you’re dragons,” Bruce repeated after Steve and Tony had both helped in sharing their dual natures with the rest of the team.

“Well, I’m not a  _full_ dragon,” Steve corrected. He was seated next to Tony, arm around him and touching from shoulder to ankle. His thumb swept in absentminded motions across Tony’s shoulder, soothing him and reminding them both that they were there, that their hoard was  _safe_.

“For that matter, neither is Tony,” Steve went on. “But Tony is more dragon than I am, because he was born with it in his blood while I was just given it along with the super soldier serum. But he can change forms; I can’t. I just have all of the instincts.”

“And partial change,” Tony put in. “That’s why he gets golden eyes and scales and sharper teeth. But he’s still recognizable as human, just maybe one who’s  _really_  good at cosplay.”

“Do you have horns?” Clint asked curiously, not looking at all bothered by the fact that the full humans on the team were now outnumbered by an alien, two dragons, and a shape shifting rage monster.

Tony smirked. “A couple rows of them,” he said smugly.

“Wait,” Natasha stopped them, “Steve, did the dragon blood in your serum come from Tony’s father?”

“Probably,” Steve said unconcernedly. “He was very involved in Erskine’s serum; it would make sense that he would provide his own blood as an ingredient to make it different.”

“So wouldn’t that make you and Tony sort of siblings?” Natasha went on with a raised eyebrow. “Since you both have Howard’s blood to make you dragons?”

Tony laughed outright at that. “If you need a blood transfusion, does that mean you’re related to the one who gave you blood?” he countered. “The blood is what caused the serum to work, and yes it did cause a change to his genetic makeup, but a paternity test would not have Howard as a match for Steve. His body absorbed and adapted what it took.”

“It makes sense why I was never able to get the serum to work right, without that dragon blood,” Bruce said thoughtfully.

“Most of the world isn’t even aware that dragons  _exist_ ,” Tony pointed out. “So your not thinking of that particular ingredient is understandable.”

“So you both consider us all to be part of your hoard,” Natasha stated.

Tony was unbothered by the comment, but Steve pinkened slightly, knowing how it sounded to someone without experience with dragons.

“We don’t see you as  _property_ ,” Steve hastened to clarify. “With people, it just translates to…extreme protectiveness. When you’re in danger, it makes us very paranoid.”

“And hence the drive to find, collect, and protect the rest of your hoard all in one place,” Tony added.

“I am quite honored to be considered a part of your hoard, Friend Anthony and Friend Steven!” Thor expressed with a beaming smile, speaking up for the first time since they had finished their explanation. “’Tis a true joy when your presence can be valued so highly!”

Steve chuckled. “No problem, Thor.”

“So is that why you invited all of us to live in the Tower?” Clint questioned. “To gather your hoard in one spot?”

“Got it in one,” Tony agreed. “It’s not really something we can help, the instinct to hoard. After we fought the first time, my dragon decided to claim you all. I mean really, we hardly knew each other. Didn’t you think it was a bit odd I was putting so much trust in all of you guys that I would invite you not only into my living space, but would give you guys entire floors to yourselves?”

“I guess I just figured that was the ‘eccentric’ part in ‘eccentric billionaire’,” Clint answered dryly.

“Do Rhodes and Pepper know?” Bruce asked Tony.

Tony snorted in response. “Rhodey has been my best friend since I was fifteen, and Pepper runs my entire life. Of  _course_ they know.”

“That explains why you gave Pepper the job of CEO and Rhodes the War Machine suit,” Natasha commented. “Instinct to please your hoard and keep them close.”

“I gave Pepper the job of CEO because she does I far better job at it than I ever have done or ever would do,” Tony corrected.

“And I suppose a twin of Iron Man is just your version of friendship bracelets,” Bruce teased, to Tony’s indignant look.

“Wait a second,” Clint said suddenly. “I may not be well versed in my myths about dragons, but don’t dragons usually sleep with their hoards?”

“Did I not just mention how you have your own floors here?” Tony shot back.

But Steve hummed a bit and said, “It’s true that being in the same building helps. But I think it’s also that Tony and I see each other as part of our hoard. Considering that we literally sleep together, I think that it curbs our baser instincts to have our hoard as close as possible.”

“Not to mention that I’m very used to sleeping apart from my hoard,” Tony said frankly. “Rhodey Bear is always out of state or out of country, Pepper sleeps at her own house even though she has a perfectly convenient floor for use here – she said she wants to be able to actually  _leave_ work to go home, but whatever – and if I moved my bed into the workshop it would always be getting ruined by a stray fire or something.”

Clint grinned suddenly. “So ‘Mom and Dad’ is fairly accurate then,” he said smugly. “’Cause you see us as  _yours_.”

“Alright,” Bruce said, not allowing either of the two dragons to respond to that comment. “I can forgive that you kept us in the dark about this, though I suspect that it was more to do with the fact that you wanted to mess with us rather than a lack of trust.

“But, if I  _ever_ see you incinerating people with your  _breath_ again, we are going to have  _words_.”

“It wasn’t actually  _breath_ ,” Tony started, ready to explain the mechanics of breathing fire to his Science Bro, but Natasha cut him off before he could go further.

“So long as you two don’t let this affect anything serious, your secret’s safe with us,” she said bluntly.

“Yeah, what she said,” Clint said, and then looked at them all seriously. “Now, to the  _truly_  important questions...who wants to be beaten again at Mario Kart?”

***

Hours later, after Tony and Steve had reaffirmed each others’ presence and safety several times over, they lay in the bed, unable to remain apart for long and having to content themselves with linked pinkies to let themselves cool off.

Finally, Tony rolled over, pressing himself to Steve’s side and slinging his arm across Steve’s middle in a simulation of a hug.

“I love you,” he hummed. “I’m glad nothing happened to you.”

“You too, Tony,” Steve responded, scratching behind Tony’s ear with the hand closest to him. It was an action that he had been surprised to discover soothed him, much like a cat being petted. Sure enough, a rumbling purr began to vibrate in Tony’s chest as he snuggled deeper into the blond.

“Don’t get kidnapped again, mkay?” Tony murmured into Steve’s pectoral muscle, eyes half-lidded as he enjoyed the scratches.

He felt Steve’s chest move with his chuckle. “I’ll certainly do my best not to,” he agreed.

“Good,” Tony declared. His eyes flashed gold with possessiveness. “Because you’re  _mine_.”

Steve pressed a kiss to the top of Tony’s head, his own eyes mirroring Tony’s for a moment. “Mmhm. Just like you’re mine.”


	5. Caged Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another dragon arrives at the Tower.

Smoke flared from the dragon’s nostrils, displaying for all to see how agitated he was. Tony supposed it made sense – if he had been kept in a glass cage by strangers for a week now, he would be a bit agitated by now as well.

Of course, he would’ve been agitated a lot sooner than that, but he also wouldn’t have lost his control over his second set of lungs – the ones made for fire and smoke. His time in Afghanistan, and they had never known of his dragon abilities.

Well, he snorted to himself. Not until the end, anyway, when he was spewing fire out on the load of weapons outside the cave. Now, he had weapons attached to the suit to mimic that, but Mark I had been a rudimentary suit – only armor while his stressed body was unable to shift.

The caged dragon couldn’t shift – at least, Tony was pretty sure he couldn’t, sure enough that he would bet his Tower on it. He wasn’t born a dragon; he was created, like Steve, so if he  _could_ shift Tony would indeed be very surprised. But his eyes could still swirl with that dragon gold when he was under pressure, and a sheen of red scales appeared at his temples, smoke coming from his nostrils and teeth and nails sharp like daggers.

He had only briefly seen the scales and sharpened fingernails, before the man had seemed to gain a bit more control over that part of his transformation. He seemed wholly unable to stop the smoke and golden eyes, however, too stressed to worry about those parts of his appearance.

The door opened behind him, and Tony sensed Steve’s presence and didn’t bother turning around.

“No change, I see,” Steve sounded utterly disappointed as he looked at the monitor that showed the inside of the Hulk cage. The brunette dragon was sitting utterly still, back against the far wall on the one side that wasn’t glass. Occasionally he would twitch, like he was fighting the urge to spring up, but otherwise he may have been a statue with a smoke machine in his nose.

Tony sighed. “No, not as far as I can tell,” he murmured quietly. He glanced over at Steve, taking in the locked jaw and the pain so easily visible in his eyes. His eyes were their usual blue, too sad and worried to swirl golden. It was progress, because for most of the past several days his eyes had stayed permanently gold, too ramped up and angry at the world for what it had done to his best friend.

“I’m surprised you never noticed any of those dragon changes in him in the time you were together,” Tony commented, looking back at the man on the screen.

“You and me both,” Steve agreed quietly. “I remember right after I changed, I don’t think the gold disappeared from my eyes for a solid week. And I kept coughing up smoke for  _months_ before I got used to breathing differently.”

Tony couldn’t exactly relate to that, having grown up with this other side of him and learning from a very young age how to control it so that the Stark family secret didn’t get out. He had been so young that he didn’t even remember now how he had gotten to the point that he had it under control.

So instead, he said, “I was thinking…it might be good for you to go inside again.”

Steve’s eyes snapped to Tony, equal parts alarmed and hopeful at the suggestion. “Why?” he asked bluntly. “Last time he attacked me, and he still snarls when he sees me on the other side of the glass. Why do you think it would be any different now?” It wasn’t said sarcastically, or rhetorically – Steve honestly wanted to know if Tony saw anything different that Bucky’s reaction might be different to him this time.

“See, that’s the thing,” Tony said, waving toward the monitor. “When we brought him in, he was way too agitated to catch anything. Instinct was all that was keeping him going, but he was more Winter Soldier than even dragon, let alone Bucky Barnes. And since then, you’ve only been on the other side of Hulk proof glass, where the air he’s getting runs through filtration.”

“You think he needs to smell me,” Steve finished Tony’s thought.

“I mean, maybe he’ll recognize that,” Tony said with a shrug. “He’s running on  _dragon_ instincts, now. Maybe he’ll recognize his best friend for the ages.”

Steve blew out a breath; it was like a gunshot in the quiet room. Then he nodded and straightened his shoulders, the usual cool focus coming to his eyes that appeared every time he went into battle. Tony’s heart ached at the sight – Steve shouldn’t have that look when he was going to face his best friend.

But, the world was cruel and Hydra was filled with sick fucks, so they had to take what came their way now.

“I’ll be watching on the monitors so I don’t freak him out any more than he already is,” Tony told his lover. “Anything happens, you get the fuck out, and we’ll deal with repercussions. I have my suit on standby just in case.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Steve said, cupping the side of Tony’s neck, bending down and pressing a soft kiss to Tony’s lips that Tony tilted his head up to accept. Steve pulled back, thumb rubbing behind Tony’s ear as he finished, “I’ll be fine.”

Tony watched on the monitor as Steve appeared in Bucky’s line of sight. The caged brunette was immediately snarling, his eyes locked on the Captain as Steve took a few steps closer. The snarls rose in pitch as Steve drew nearer, crimson scales rippling across his temples and down his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. Steve paid these signs of agitation no heed however as he typed in his personal access code to the cage, and as soon as the door opened with a hiss, the brunette fell silent and still, golden eyes watching the blond warily.

“Hey, Buck,” Steve said, cautious note in his voice that belied the confidence in the line of his shoulders. “Remember me?”

Then – _Steve you fucking idiot_  – he went forward, the door closing behind him as he crossed the distance between them.

“I’m Steve,” he went on, a bit of hope bleeding through his voice when Bucky didn’t move to attack. “Steve Rogers.”

It was quiet for a long moment, Bucky staring at the blond unblinkingly. Steve stood there, as though waiting for inspection, and Tony couldn’t help holding his breath, because Bucky wasn’t doing anything so maybe –

 _Holy fuck!_ Tony would never admit to the yelp that escaped him when Bucky lunged forward, one hand going against Steve’s head and one against his neck and practically threw him to the floor before immediately slinging his legs over to straddle him. His back was to the camera, shielding Steve from view, but Tony was no longer watching, bolting for the door and yelling, “ _Jarvis!_ ”

The suit came flying in pieces toward him, and it was fully assembled by the time he reached the door to the Hulk cage, fingers flying across the keypad to grant him entry.

Bucky whirled around with a snarl on his face when Tony entered, but continued to stay on top of Steve. His expression was feral and dangerous, just  _daring_ him to attack and get him away from Steve. Curiously, Steve wasn’t actually fighting to escape, just lying there, but Tony didn’t have time to ponder that as he raised his repulsors to get him  _the fuck off_  his boyfriend.

“No, Tony, wait!” Steve yelped, and Tony hesitated when he saw Steve struggle a bit to sit up enough that he could see him. It was difficult, because Bucky had one arm pressed to Steve’s shoulder, keeping him down, but Tony could see Steve’s face enough to see that he looked unharmed. His eyes were golden now, and his cheeks were a bit flushed in a way Tony thought looked familiar but couldn’t quite put his finger on in his panic, but otherwise he looked completely fine.

“Tony, I’m okay, I promise,” Steve told him. Tony noticed that he had one arm on Bucky’s leg, pressing just firmly enough that he seemed to be holding  _him_ back as well. “Just – just lift up your face plate, okay?”

Tony could think of zero reasons that that was a good idea, but he trusted Steve, and Bucky looked one misstep away from going full on Terminator mode, so he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and obeyed, popping the face plate up without a word.

Without the air filtration from the suit, he was completely unprepared for the wave of pheromones to  _slam_ into Tony’s senses enough that he jerked his head back. Most of them were coming from Bucky, but some of them he recognized as Steve’s. He needed no words after that – Bucky may as well have been  _screaming_ at him,  _mine mine mine mine_.

And then, abruptly, the outpouring of pheromones coming from Bucky shut almost completely off, like a faucet that had been shut to just a trickle. The suddenness almost caused Tony to stumble again, but he caught himself when he noticed that Bucky was staring at him with a confused look now, rather than one that was possessive over Steve and warning him off. He had risen from his bent position, no longer holding Steve down but still remaining straddled across him.

Bucky's golden eyes were narrowed at Tony, and he was visibly sniffing the air like a dog searching for a specific scent. Or, Tony realized with a jolt, like a dragon who was trying to figure out who he was.

"Bucky?" Steve said carefully, still underneath his best friend. Bucky's head snapped around to look down at Steve, as though surprised that he was still there. "Are you alright?"

Bucky stared at Steve for a moment longer, before looking back at Tony, letting out a pitiful-sounding whine of confusion. 

Coming to a sudden decision, Tony pressed the catches of the suit, stepping out of it completely. Bucky's eyes widened a bit with alarm before he settled a bit when he clearly caught more of Tony's scent. Whining, he shifted slightly over Steve, more a shuffle that showed his discomfort. Steve continued to watch Bucky, uncertain what was going on in his head and afraid to say anything that would jeopardize his semi-familiarity.

"Hey, Bucky," Tony said cautiously, taking a step closer but stopping when the other brunette began to growl in his chest. He didn't  _think_  the other dragon would attack, but the guy had been brainwashed and tortured for the past seventy years or so, so he really couldn't rely on normal instinct. Better safe than sorry.

"You know who that is?" Tony went on, not moving but eyes intent. Bucky's gaze stayed on Tony, but his hand moved down - possessive and protective in equal measure - to rest on Steve's chest.

"That's right, that's Steve," Tony said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "You know him, don't you?"

Bucky looked confused at this, but even still, he petted Steve's chest as though in acknowledgement of his protection. He still continued to keep his eyes on Tony.

"Steve is your best friend," Tony said, and at Bucky's incomprehension, he clarified, "He's part of your hoard."

Bucky's chest vibrated with his pleased rumble at this, and some of his muscles loosened and relaxed, growing more comfortable at this confirmed knowledge.

"He's part of my hoard, too," Tony went on, bracing himself for an adverse reaction, but instead Bucky tilted his head thoughtfully, sniffing the air again. "I'm part of his; we're hoard mates. Do you know what that means?"

Bucky eyed him thoughtfully for a long moment, before he finally looked back down at Steve, as though to confirm this information. Steve looked up at him wordlessly, his expression a picture of hope.

Looking back at Tony, Bucky flexed his jaw slightly, opening and closing his mouth like he was searching for how to form words. 

"Protect...?" Bucky was able to manage only the one word through a scratchy throat, but he got his point across when he patted Steve's chest again in indication.

" _Yes,_ " Tony said emphatically, unable to hide his possessiveness when he eyed Steve with golden-flecked eyes. "Steve is  _mine_ , and so is everything else he claims - we have one hoard."

Bucky, for the first time since his arrival, looked enormously pleased at this information, a rumble echoing in his chest in appreciation. Still remaining on top of Steve, he extended a hand toward Tony in clear invitation. Uncertain what his intent was, Tony nevertheless moved forward, and when he was close enough Bucky grasped him by the wrist and yanked him down, not ungently but sudden enough that Tony stumbled.

Still remaining in his position atop Steve, Bucky manhandled Tony into laying down beside him, tucking one arm around Tony's waist and the other around Steve. He was still above them, but now he was largely lying down, snuffling a bit at Steve's neck and then at Tony's. The feeling of Bucky's pheromones changed then, so that he was exuding possessiveness over not just Steve but over  _both_  of them.

 Tony couldn't honestly say that he was shocked by this, though he was a bit surprised. He looked over at Steve,  seeing how he practically glowed with happiness and contentment as he exuded pheromones of his own, matching Bucky's.

" _Mine_ ," Bucky growled lowly. 

Tony laughed a bit, softly enough that it could not be taken offensively. Who would have thought that Bucky Barnes was such a cuddle monster? He wasn't complaining...he felt some measure of possessiveness over Bucky as well, as one of Steve's hoard. His instinct to sleep with his hoard was purring with pleasure at the  presence of the two super soldiers in the room with him. He allowed his own pheromones to leak into the air, confirming the bond between the three of them. Sure, it was different between he and Steve and between he and Bucky. He and Steve were hoard mates and he and Bucky - and for that matter, Steve and Bucky - were just part of each other's hoard. But it was very comforting for all three dragons to be snuggled up together nevertheless.

" _Ours_ , Buck," Steve murmured in correction, eyeing Tony gratefully and lovingly. And at that look, he really couldn't be blamed for reaching his hand across and around Bucky to meet Steve's, so that they were holding hands. Even Bucky let out a continuous rumble of contentment from his chest as he felt their bond between them.

"Ours," Bucky echoed, body completely relaxing over them as for the first time he decades he felt  _safe_.

Moments later, instinct and contentment had them all dropping off to sleep, wrapped around each other like they had always belonged there.

**Author's Note:**

> I love your comments, but no harsh criticism, please! Thanks for reading!


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